A daring new contest encouraging people to do humanitarian-focused challenges has been launched by Concern Worldwide and Sligo is urged to participate.

Surviving on €5 worth of food over five days or hauling around a daily allowance of five litres of water for cooking, cleaning and drinking are two of several tasks facing participants in the aid agency’s inaugural World Champions competition.

The winning team will spend over a week in one of the 27 countries, where Concern Worldwide operates, to find out how the money they raised goes to helping people living in extreme poverty.

The life-changing competition involves people setting up teams and winning points by completing regular missions, promoting their own efforts on social media and by fundraising.

Concern’s World Champions manager, Jonathan Power, from Tallaght, south Dublin, said: “Adventure awaits those who register for this exciting new contest open to adults all over the country.

“Participants will be challenging themselves while raising desperately needed money to help fund Concern’s activities in some of the world’s poorest countries with the chance to win a trip of a lifetime to see our work first-hand”.Survive

The ‘survive on five’ mission will see teams getting a glimpse of a reality that is faced by over one billion people around the world currently trying to survive on less than €1 a day.

Participants will also spend a day carrying a five-litre jerry-can filled with water that must be used for their everyday needs.

Other missions range from mountain climbing on Ireland’s tallest peaks to hosting, or getting others to organise, a fundraising baking event.

Mr Power added: “These fun challenges will help participants and their supporters better understand the difficulties many face around the world while also helping them win the contest.

“Teams come up with their own name and their own fundraising events, but every month we’ll be setting them an extra challenge and asking them to keep online diaries and to post updates, images and videos on social media.

“If they complete these challenges, they will earn extra points and move up the leaderboard in what promises to be a very competitive fundraising game with a life changing prize”.

Extreme Poverty

The team with the most points by April 30 and who raise a minimum of €3,000 will win the trip with the victor announced in May.

The winning team will be taken to one of Concern’s programmes this summer when they will meet some of the people living in extreme poverty, who are benefitting from the donations the aid agency receives from the public.